The killer of an Irishman who was shot dead at a packed Majorcan holiday resort was overheard in a bar bragging about the crime he was about to commit.

Police are said to have spoken to the key witness as they hunt the gunman and two suspected accomplices.

They escaped a police lockdown of the area following the shooting just after 9pm last night in Costa de la Calma, around 15 miles from the capital Palma in the south west of the island.

Armed police - some carrying machine guns and wearing bullet-proof vests - patrolled the street where the murder occurred outside an empty supermarket which was sealed off as forensic experts moved in following a failed attempt to revive the victim at the scene.

An all-ports alert remained in place this morning as murder squad detectives sought to stop the assassins fleeing the island.

The unnamed Irishman was pronounced dead in hospital after attempts to revive him at the scene failed.

He was shot up to four times in the back, although no bullet casings were found at the scene.

A nearby bar owner said he had seen a man in a blue hoodie drawn tightly round his face running away after hearing three shots he mistook for firecrackers.

Workers at a restaurant near the murder scene say they were asked to take care of around six children aged eight to 15 who they claim police told them were relatives of the dead man while they quizzed a woman thought to be his partner who was with him when he was shot.